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Liquid CTA/Macro Strategies & Their Role in Providing Portfolio June 2012 Futures and OTC Clearing Moving Into the Mainstream: Liquid CTA/Macro Strategies & Their Role in Providing Portfolio Diversification A Prime Finance Business Advisory Services Publication Methodology Table of Contents Key Findings 4 Methodology 6 Introduction 7 Section One: CTA/Macro Strategies Emerge as a Key Portfolio Diversifier 8 Section Two: Growing Sophistication of Systematic Trading Prompts Major Industry Realignment 19 Section Three: Layered Distribution Approaches Offer Diversified Options for Accessing Capital 30 Conclusion 42 Moving Into the Mainstream: Liquid CTA/Macro Strategies and Their Role in Providing Portfolio Diversification I 3 Key Findings Investors’ interest in Liquid Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA)/Macro strategies accelerated sharply after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, as these managers’ outperformed long-only and hedge fund strategies and provided a ready source of liquidity to cash-strapped investors. This was broadly cited as the “2008 Effect”. • Managed Futures assets under management (AUM) grew There has been a decisive shift within the Liquid CTA/ 52% between the end of 2007 and 2011 . Hedge fund Macro manager landscape toward systematic as opposed to industry AUM grew only 5% in that corresponding period.1 discretionary trading. Whereas AUM was fairly evenly split between these two approaches in 2000 (55% systematic and • Managed Futures increased market share as a result, rising 45% discretionary),that ratio changed dramatically to 83% from 10% of combined industry AUM in 2007 to 14% by the systematic and 17% discretionary by the end of 2011.2 end of 2011. • Most of the exchange trading pits have become electronic • The inclusion of Liquid CTA/Macro managers in investor in the past decade, and the number of floor traders has portfolios reflects rising conviction that these managers offer dwindled significantly. This removed a ready talent pool important diversification benefits by being uncorrelated to from which many of the industry’s leading discretionary other asset classes and by being well positioned to generate traders originated. Most emerging managers do not have returns during unusually volatile periods. any specific sector affiliations. • Interest from institutional investors has been particularly • Improved technologies have resulted in widespread notable, and increased allocations from these participants availability of modeling tools and readier access to are driving many of the largest Liquid CTA/Macro managers exchange price data. This has allowed a broader set of to reduce their volatility and target more modest returns—a participants to develop systems, whereas in the industry’s dramatic change from the early years of the managed early history those traders needed to be affiliated with a futures industry when these strategies were seen as major firm that had mainframes for evaluating data and “high octane”. programmers to write query routines. Liquid CTA/Macro strategies are seen as a distinct category • The rise of electronic trading not only facilitated more from both traditional long-only portfolio managers and from readily available price data, it also allowed for an Global Macro hedge fund managers because of differences in explosion in the number of futures contracts. According their investment approach and the products they trade. to the Futures Industry Association (FIA), between 1994 • Trading styles in the Liquid CTA/Macro space span both and 2011, the number of distinct futures contracts discretionary and systematic approaches, in contrast to (excluding single stock futures) rose from 273 to 1,262. long-only funds that trade on a value-based approach and This created a larger opportunity pool for systematic Global Macro hedge funds that adopt a more thematic traders to test models and made it easier for them to get investment principle. orders to those markets. • Liquid CTA/Macro strategies focus their investment capital solely in exchange-traded futures and options markets or in OTC currency markets. They do not trade securities, nor do they include OTC swap products in their portfolios. • The number of markets included in the investment portfolio of Liquid CTA/Macro managers is also much broader than either long-only or Global Macro traders. Oftentimes, Liquid CTA/Macro participants may be actively engaged in 100 or more markets as they seek out the necessary depth and diversity to support their investment approach. Source: 1-2. BarclayHedge 4 I Moving Into the Mainstream: Liquid CTA/Macro Strategies and Their Role in Providing Portfolio Diversification The types of systems being deployed within the Liquid Distribution models used to raise capital for Liquid / CTA CTA/Macro space have also changed dramatically. There has Macro managers have become highly diversified, with been significant expansion in the number of models being different approaches for retail participants as opposed to used to evaluate opportunities, a dramatic shortening of the high net worth and institutional participants. time frame under consideration, and broad growth in the • The roots of the Liquid CTA/Macro landscape originated number of markets being tracked. This has resulted in distinct with the wire or brokerage houses that offered managed “generations” of systematic approaches. futures product to retail market participants. This model • Generation One systems were primarily long-term trend- continues to the present and is slowly being augmented following systems that used breakouts as a position by expanded opportunities in the regulated fund space via generation signal. These systems were originally focused ETFs, 40 Act alternative funds, and UCITS funds. in the traditional commodity markets. • Capital-raising platforms emerged in the mid-2000s to • Generation Two systems moved the focus from “the” model target the high net worth and emerging institutional to a set of models—some used for pattern recognition and investor. These platforms provided an opportunity for some for signal generation. The types of signals also investors to direct money toward specific managers expanded from breakouts only to a broader set of measures either directly or via swap. In recent years, the original that included mean reversion, momentum, volatility, and “shopping mall” model for these platforms has converted others. These more mathematical calculations allowed to expert-driven platforms where either fund of participants to look at ever shorter time frames and funds or third parties take on more responsibility for supported a shift from long-term to medium-term and portfolio construction. short-term systems. This shift also coincided with a move • Many of the largest managers are also building out from commodity-focused markets to a broader set of their ability to directly market to high net worth and financial and currency contracts. institutional investors either via comingled funds or • Generation Three systems expanded the sets of models through separately managed accounts that sit on different, even further, adding transition evaluation models that kick operational platforms. in after pattern recognition and signal generation models. This latest generation of systems also experiment with new types of models that translate prices in one market into alternative measures or use signals in one market to establish positions in equivalent markets. The other key characteristic is that there will often be multiple models running in the same market which may be prompting conflicting signals that need to be netted or managed. Moving Into the Mainstream: Liquid CTA/Macro Strategies and Their Role in Providing Portfolio Diversification I 5 Methodology This paper is the result of a series of qualitative interviews conducted with an audience of CTAs and hedge fund managers focused on highly liquid macro strategies as well as investors and other participants involved with allocating to these strategies. These participants, drawn broadly across the CTA / Managed Futures and investor landscape, were surveyed to discuss the history and evolution of their organizations, determine key trends that have emerged since 2008, and gain insight into factors shaping the industry’s future. Our Futures Research and Business Advisory teams Profile of Survey reSPondentS interviewed 42 CTAs and hedge fund managers focused on liquid strategies, marketers, pension plans, fund of funds, and consultants globally. In total, the participants represented AUM of $86.5 billion USD, just over 25% of the industry’s total allocations. These interviews were not scripted, nor did they entail having participants fill out multiple choice questionnaires; instead, they were free-flowing interviews focused on understanding the perspectives and current trends observed by the participants. In total, we have drawn the conclusions in this report from more than 40 hours of dialog. We have selected key quotes from these interviews to highlight important themes mentioned by CTAs and investors in order to capture the “voice of the client.” These quotes have been included on an unattributed basis, as participation in this survey was done confidentially and we have determined not to reveal either the firms or individuals who contributed to Source: Citi Prime Finance & Futures the report. The breakdown of participant by type, however, is highlighted below. 6 I Moving Into the Mainstream: Liquid CTA/Macro Strategies and Their Role in Providing Portfolio Diversification Methodology Introduction A significant shift in approach has taken
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